One Month In India

Hey Y'all,

 This week was not too crazy at all, we had an  exchange so I spent a day in Dowleswaram India. I was able to attend a farewell for a guy who left the next day to the MTC. It's fun being a missionary and going to Farewells, and reminding me of when I left (not long ago, I know).. 

We had a little less than average in lessons this week, we mainly taught about Luke 2:7-15 talking about the birth of Christ. It's interesting how some of these people are celebrating Christmas for the first time because they were previously Hindu. We have a new investigator named Satish (a different guy, not the 17 year old one).  He's Hindu but was a member referral, and is very interesting in learning about the gospel. The 17 year old Satish will be getting baptized on Sunday (the 27th). 

The food here has gotten to me a lot lately and not sure why. We were giving an investigator a blessing, and I had to go use the restroom, very soon or I was gonna explode. I went and used the restroom and realized they don't have a sprayer, just a bucket of water and a cup.. I will spare the details on this one, but it was not an enjoyable experience. My companion informed me they do wipe with their left hands here... Only missionaries and wealthy people have sprayers. I didnt know that. And now I do. 

The saddest part of my week was witnessing a dog getting ran over by a car. It was really sad, there are lots of dogs here that just sleep in the middle of the road. Something I realized (and I'm not sure why) but drunk people are attracted to us. We can't go one day without having a drunk person find us and say weird things in Telugu. I also (sadly) can't go one day without seeing someone naked. It's normal here for children to roam around naked, and I feel as if they all take turns. If you plan on coming to India do not look at the Homeless people. Because they too can be naked at times. They just sprawl out on the side walk and take a nap without any pants on. 

One of the Elders that live in our apartment area went home (cause he finally finished his mission) and another one that was only a year out went home due to health issues (he's from North Carolina). There are lots of health concerns here, and we are trained to be very particular about what you eat and drink. It's common for missionaries to go home due to health problems. Anyways until next week, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Love,

Elder Magnusson

                                                               Us, getting some ice cream

                                          "Yup, he's American" - says every Indian person

                                             Our study time includes being thankful for the USA

                                                                    A very large bull!

                                  People stare at us from their roof tops all the time

                                     This was taken from an investigator's apartment

                                          how they deliver bananas to businesses

                                                       Sewage freely flowing

                                                                       Dominos Pizza

                                                                           Puppy Love

Mission Impossible

Hey Ya'll,
This week was not as successful of a week as last week. We had to drop most of our investigators because they couldn't speak enough English for us to be able to communicate and teach them. We were able to see Geevan Raj this week and his grandparents, and his sister joined in on the lesson. They speak fantastic English and better than most the missionaries. 

I have been annoyed with India a little this week, because the way they do things is very un-logical. I am however surprised I haven't gotten sick yet, they definitely do not have the FDA here. We have been going over to a less active family (Ruydu family) and have made a great relationship with them. They told us; "missionaries have been coming over for a long time, and no one has made us have a change of heart as y'all have" They told us they would like to start coming to church again and we hope that they will.
We had District Conference so all the members in the Rajahmundry area came and the mission president spoke and basically chewed out the members. In 4 months he would like to send in an application to make Rajahmundry a Stake, but refuses to because (during the meeting)
1.  We didn't start on time
2.  No one was even there by start time (not even the leaders, or the people speaking)
3. The Piano wasn't even in the room until 15 minutes after start time
His point was that they aren't ready to be a Stake nor can function at the level Stakes do. That was frustrating though about India and am definitely learning to be more patient because of it haha. Other then that we have had lots of lessons this week, and will hopefully go and find more investigators.
The cookies you can buy here are really good and I think would be great in America. All the sodas here are Coke products so on the back of the label it says "Atlanta,GA".. Lets just say I try not to look at the back anymore. Very interesting though how no one knows what or where Georgia is. Also people walk up to us all the time and want to take pictures with "The Elders". Everyone here knows who we are (cause we wear white shirts and ties and a name tag) and enjoy  talking to Americans, they especially love Elder Conrad cause he's white. And when I start talking they take interest in me. I have been told I look like I'm from Hyderabad, not quite sure if thats a compliment or not.
You can't boil eggs in India cause their shells aren't strong enough (which I learned the hard way) so that sucks. We have a filter above our sink where I can get water from, since I can't drink the water here. Also anywhere you go you have to "water fall" when you drink the water cause they clean the cups with water and no soap. My Immune system is taking beatings constantly, and have visited the bathroom too many times. I have shared a lot of negative things about India this week, but have learned to love the experiences, and have loved being out here. It's a hard life but the blessings that have come from it are innumerable. Until next week!
Love,
Elder Magnusson  

The ugliest dog in the world

My bike broke again.. yes, the new one!

Lunch with a member (Ramakristna) 

The nastiest smelling sewer water!

Pugs in India? 

Riding in an Auto Rickshaw

An Indian Dealership

(Levi didn't say anything about this one... but it speaks for itself hahaha)

I asked him if this was taken from his apartment, but he didn't answer.  I'm guessing either his apartment or a members house.

Practicing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" for District Conference

India India India

Hey Y'all,

 This week was a great week for my companion and I, we were able to find 10 new potential investigators and will be able to teach them this week! One lady we found (Sister Raja) is a less active and we knocked on her door not knowing she was a church member. She told us that morning she prayed for help and that night we knocked on her door! She asked how we knew to go to her house and I told her God sent us! Plus we saw her Christmas lights. (Here in India we only teach fellow Christians who speak English). Everyone has a sign on the top of their door that is either Jesus Christ or a Hindu God, and that is how we know their religion before we knock on the door. Lots of our new investigators are young adults who are college age. We are teaching a guy named Geevan Raj and his grandparents (who are retired pastors), they are excited to learn more about Jesus Christ. We teach people in their homes, and can only teach people that speak Telugu IF they are a strong member referral and we need a missionary fluent in that language to be with us. My week started out with me hanging halfway out of a Rickshaw singing Christmas songs and doing a queen wave. I have found much joy in Rickshaws lately and plan on going mudding in one when I get back (if I can get one). I also had another opportunity to pass a 50 year old man bathing out in the streets. We ate at a members house on Tuesday and her food was extremely spicy. I literally thought I had strep throat this whole week, but its cause the food burned the back of my throat or something. I luckily have been getting use to the food and have even started to like it. Yesterday our ward mission leader taught us how to make fried rice (no its not Indian food, but still fun to learn). We had a family get baptized yesterday, but I did not teach them. We also have one later this December that I have helped teach;  his name is Satish and he is 17. We do eat at members a good amount of the time, but it is an unscheduled meal (usually) cause everyone wants to feed us when we go to their home (its a cultural thing).

Bad news of the week:

1. After teaching a part member family I walked outside and learned my bike had gotten stolen. I'm waiting to see some Indian kid on the streets riding my bike. :( I was able to borrow another missionaries bike.

2. We were on the way to a lesson and the petal from the bike I was using broke and had to get it fixed.

3. I also managed to T-Bone a guy on a motorcycle and yes damaged a part of the (borrowed) bike.

This week was not good for me when it came to bikes. I will be getting a new one this afternoon and will have to pay half of the cost (since I didn't lock my bike when it got stolen) and the church will cover the other half. I have lots of pictures I will send. This week was pretty good in Rajahmundry. Btw I cover Rajahmundry 3rd branch.

Love,

Elder Magnusson

Since my bike was stolen I rode on the back of Eder Conrad's bike when my rental bike was being used by the actual owner

There are dogs everywhere!

 The truck you see is full of ox skin. I was riding by and stopped because it smelled absolutely horrible and then I looked up and saw that truck.

college students playing Cricket

eating dinner at a members house

Yes, on the floor which is the way they do it here... and yes with fingers... also just the way its done!

In Levi's note to us he mentioned he was heading out for his first Indian haircut.  I told him they are really good with machetes... he said he hoped so, haha.

I was surprised to see additional emails and then realized Levi was still on, so chatted with him this morning for a few minutes... so here's the rest of the story.... 

This is where im staying I sleep on the bed with the Georgia blanket (of course)

This is our bathroom we have three that all basically look like this.

This is a pic of our desk where we do bible study in the morning and plan our day.

He also said he got his Indian haircut, and thought they did a great job.  He also got his new bike, which broke twice and had to take it back to keep getting the chain fixed, until he showed them how to do it.  He also mentioned that his air conditioner is still broken and how hot it is at night to sleep.  He's hoping it will get fixed soon or they will get a new one!

Then he wrote this:  I forget to tell you I also got hot wings here in India but tasted more like curry than they did wings not anywhere near as good as the Dawg House... and the french fries here are horrible!